Chapter 100

Chapter 100

After the marriage proposal ceremony that had countless female bugs in the livestream burning with envy and jealousy came to a temporary end, Nevi and his family planned to leave the venue to have a meal together with Barlow, Raphael, and other close bugs. Since everyone rarely had free time, they wanted to properly celebrate the smooth success of today's proposal ceremony.

The president and his spouse still had matters to attend to, so they left first, warmly making plans with Nevi to have a meal together next time before departing.

To avoid being surrounded and blocked, Aesop first took the cubs and Barlow and the others to slip away quietly, while Nevi went to the backstage lounge to retrieve their personal belongings.

Although Aesop had planned for every contingency for the proposal ceremony, including how to handle potential disturbances from female bugs, and had even hired quite a few female bug security personnel to maintain order at the scene.

Yet Aesop still underestimated how unhinged female bugs could be—or rather, underestimated their love and fervor for Nevi.

Although Nevi was a baby food livestream host, and since he had cubs, he naturally had a male mate. In fact, far from hiding it, he'd never concealed his love for his male mate.

Even so, a large portion of Nevi's fans were solo fans—fans of Nevi alone. The more they learned about Nevi, the more they adored him and ached for him, and the more they resented and envied the male mate who existed only in Nevi's words.

Before Nevi's appearance was revealed, he had already attracted many fans through his personality and charm. After his appearance was exposed, it became an even bigger draw.

A beauty so unreal it seemed too good to be true, a gentle and patient personality, cute and lively cubs... Wasn't this a fantasy come to life? What young, naive female bug hadn't dreamed of a future like this?

Everything about Nevi was the ultimate fantasy for female bugs—too beautiful, too dreamlike, too unreal.

Behind the livestream screen, female bugs could hold back somewhat, but at the Live Streaming Gala, when Nevi stepped out from behind the screen onto the stage, it was as if fantasy had become reality—the impact on fans was huge, no doubt.

However, before their excitement and ecstasy could be vented, they were forced to be one of the tens of thousands of witnesses to the on-site proposal ceremony.

That was their precious white moonlight male master, whom they had carefully treasured in their hearts!

How could they not be bitter?

Thus, shortly after the proposal ceremony ended, many fans on the capital star began flooding toward the offline gala venue.

Most fans didn't actually intend to cause trouble. Even though they were extremely envious and resentful of the male bug at the scene, their original intention was just to see Nevi in person—like devout pilgrims who didn't dare hope for the deity's gaze, only wishing to catch a glimpse of their god.

Therefore, even though Nevi, upon learning of the news, tried his best to dissuade everyone through the livestream, the female bugs gathering at the offline venue only grew in number, and the situation gradually turned sour and spiraled out of control.

To avoid causing even greater chaos, Nevi had to leave early with his loved ones.

*

Having retrieved his belongings, Nevi had just stepped out of the lounge and was about to leave when he saw a frail-looking male bug leaning against the wall, coughing hard with his hand pressed to his lips. He was coughing so hard it seemed like he might hack up his organs—a truly alarming sight.

Nevi froze. Seeing the male bug already starting to sway, Nevi stepped forward without thinking to support him, asking, his face full of concern, "Sir... Excellency, are you okay? Do you need me to contact your family or call a doctor bug?"

After getting a good look at the male bug's face, Nevi's tone became hesitant, and his expression turned a bit shocked.

Excellency—yes, this black-haired male bug was a high-ranking male bug Excellency. Nevi had no doubt about it.

Even though the male bug's face was pale, with unhealthy red patches on his cheeks from the violent coughing, it didn't take away from his handsome, refined features. If anything, his sickly look only added a touch of exquisite, fragile beauty.

This was the second time Nevi had seen a true high-ranking male bug Excellency in person, and the first time he had been in close contact with one.

Yes, even President Pegita, strictly speaking, wasn't a high-ranking male bug Excellency. He was B-rank, and only male bugs B-rank and above could be called Excellency.

The privileged class basically monopolized high-ranking Excellencies. At least ninety-nine percent of high-ranking male bug Excellencies on the capital star were born into the privileged class. There was a wall between the privileged class and the common class, so in all the time Nevi had been on the capital star, aside from that distant glimpse when he first arrived on the starship, he'd never actually come into contact with a high-ranking Excellency.

"Th...thank you, cough, no need, but...cough, could you help me to a room to rest for a while, cough?" The black-haired Excellency leaned on Nevi for support, speaking weakly between coughs.

Nevi nodded firmly, then carefully helped the frail black-haired Excellency into the lounge behind them. He also poured a cup of hot water and handed it over.

The black-haired Excellency politely thanked him. Whether it was really the hot water that helped or not, gradually, the black-haired Excellency stopped coughing, and he no longer looked as frighteningly weak and unsteady as before, like he might collapse at any moment.

Even so, Nevi hesitated before speaking up. "Excellency, would you like to contact your family? Or should I call a doctor bug to check on you..."

"Thank you, Nevi, no need. This is an old condition of mine acting up—once it passes, I'll be fine." The black-haired male bug said it lightly, as if the alarming state from moments ago was nothing unusual. He paused, then continued, "No need to call me Excellency. I'm Ge Linuo. Nice to meet you, Nevi."

Then, without any pretense of subtlety, Ge Linuo fixed his gaze on Nevi. In his deep, dark eyes swirled complex emotions that Nevi couldn't decipher—something like surprise, confusion, and envy...

But this was clearly their first meeting.

"Y-you... hello, Ge Linuo." Nevi stammered slightly.

Under Ge Linuo's direct gaze, Nevi's demeanor grew increasingly reserved.

Yet Nevi didn't feel repulsed by Ge Linuo's stare, because he sensed no malice in it. But being stared at like this for so long made Nevi's heart flutter with unease. Finally, he couldn't help but mumble, "Ge Linuo, why do you keep staring at me? Is there something strange about me?"

Only when Nevi spoke did Ge Linuo seem to snap back to reality and look away. He shook his head, his expression full of apology. "Forgive me, that was rude of me. There's nothing strange about you at all. You look beautiful today... healthy and full of vitality—even more stunning than through the livestream screen. If I hadn't seen you in person, I wouldn't have been able to imagine that a male bug as perfect and beautiful as you could exist. I'm your fan. I've always liked you. You're truly radiant and outstanding."

Ge Linuo's praise was sincere and earnest. The look in his eyes as he regarded Nevi was no longer as complex as before, but had been entirely replaced by appreciation.

Nevi's tongue unconsciously pressed against the roof of his mouth. His long, curled lashes fluttered rapidly as if even his eyelids were burning. The words of praise echoed in his eardrums, each one exploding like fireworks at his nerve endings, sending out tiny, brilliant sparks of light.

A wave of scorching heat rushed from the base of Nevi's ears up to his cheeks. Nevi tried to respond, but found his vocal cords seemed to have been steamed soft—his mouth opened and closed but no sound came out. In his nervous fluster, even his slender, fair fingers were tinged with a shy blush.

A high-ranking Excellency I've just met for the first time is actually my fan?!

He's been following me all this time, and he really likes me!

"Th-thank you for your compliments. I'm not as... as good as you say." It took Nevi a long moment to stammer out his response. He appeared composed and calm on the surface, but in truth, he felt as light as if he were floating on clouds—an almost surreal sensation.

Seeing Nevi's reaction, Ge Linuo couldn't help but smile. "You're too modest. Trust me—whether it's your personality or your looks, you can attract countless female bugs and male bugs alike, making them fall for you. You should acknowledge your own excellence."

"Th-thanks!" Nevi's ears were already red enough to drip blood, and his head was bowed so low it seemed about to bury itself in his chest.

Seeing this, Ge Linuo stopped teasing Nevi and instead guided the conversation toward topics about the cubs and the livestream.

When it came to things he loved, Nevi gradually relaxed and opened up, no longer as nervous and stiff as before.

The two chatted pleasantly for a while. Having grown quite fond of Ge Linuo, Nevi finally asked the question that had been puzzling him from the start. "Ge Linuo, did you come here alone? Why didn't you have your family or guards accompany you? Have you run into some kind of trouble?" Nevi's tone was full of concern.

A high-ranking male bug Excellency was extraordinary in both status and position. Even if they didn't travel with a grand entourage, they should at least have family or guards accompanying them. How could they be out alone—especially someone like Ge Linuo, whose health was clearly not good? Any reasonable family wouldn't allow it. The only possibility was that he'd run into serious trouble.

Just as Nevi's imagination was spiraling into darker territory, his expression growing increasingly grave, and he had already pulled out his light device ready to call the authorities for Ge Linuo, Ge Linuo's answer left him completely dumbfounded.

"Thank you, Nevi. Don't worry—I haven't run into any trouble. I temporarily shook off my guards." Ge Linuo said calmly. Seeing Nevi's genuine, unfeigned worry and concern, his heart warmed, and his expression softened considerably.

"Why? That's too dangerous!" Nevi voiced his disapproval in a small voice.

"Nevi, I wanted to see you, but I didn't want to cause you any trouble, so I had to do it this way." Ge Linuo didn't explain further. He paused, his gaze drifting vaguely into the air, then suddenly posed a completely unrelated question. "Nevi, what rank do you think I am?"

Nevi hadn't even fully processed the previous question when Ge Linuo threw out another one that seemed completely off-topic yet was asking something he obviously already knew. Despite his many confusions, Nevi politely answered along, "You're an Excellency, so you must be B-rank or above. As for your exact rank, I'm not sure."

Nevi didn't think there was anything wrong with his answer, but Ge Linuo laughed upon hearing it—a helpless laugh tinged with an indescribable meaning. "Nevi, you can't judge my rank based on my appearance. If I'm an Excellency, then what about you?"

Then, before Nevi could react, Ge Linuo calmly revealed his true rank.

"Nevi, my actual rank is D-minus."

*

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Author's note: Ge Linuo has appeared before—see Chapter 39.